You know when you get a cut or bruise, you stop to clean the wound and put a band-aid on it, because you want it to heal in a speedy way and without infection. You check in on your wound throughout the healing process. You change the band-aid, apply additional medicine, soak it…whatever it takes to advance the healing process. By the end of a week or a month, depending on the wound, you are up and running! The body is so great that way, it has the ability to heal itself. It just takes some care and nurturing to assist the process.

What about an emotional wound?How do you assist the healing process of an emotional wound? This is a big subject. I mean, many of us do not even realize that we are emotionally wounded. So we walk around with this hidden wound. It causes us pain, but because we are not acknowledging this wound, it festers and gets deeper. Just as if it were a cut or scrape that got infected. It becomes more and more tender and the pain increases, until there is an explosion. Emotional wounds are no different from physical wounds. They impede us in our development if we don’t assist them in the healing process. I know this, because I carry some big emotional wounds. I see that by not acknowledging them, I am actually making them worse. So, how do I nurture them?

The first step toward healing is to acknowledge that you have this wound. Take a minute and talk to yourself as if you are talking to a friend and really listen to the pain you have been carrying. This is probably the hardest step, but the most important. Next, you will have to clean this wound. I’m thinking of bodywork, massages, yoga, or physical comforting of yourself. Treat yourself as you would a close friend. Be patient and gentle with your body and feelings. Take time to release these feelings. Write them down, cry about them, just slowly let go of them. It is going to take some time, especially if you have been carrying this wound for a long while. Finally, check in with this wound. Over time, after repeated care and nurturing, you will see the wound is healing. You will know it has healed, when you or someone else acknowledges the wound and you no longer feel the pain. You will be able to talk about it as an event in the past and you will finally be free. ♥

Do you have an emotional wound that needs to heal? Is it keeping you from living your life fully? What ideas do you have about your healing process?